A crowd of religious people who
came to him debating various issues and said, you do always
err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. And that's
a pretty good description of most of the religious people
you and I know, both family and friends. They do not know the
scriptures. and they do not know the power
of God, therefore they always err in their understanding of
sacred things. They can't understand the teaching
of this book, for they've never experienced them. I've marked
this down. I'm beginning to learn it. I'm
beginning to learn it. You don't understand anything
in this book until you experience it. It must be experienced to be
learned. Spiritual things are not learned
by learning creeds and catechisms and confessions. They're not
learned by merely memorizing scripture. They're not learned
by good, faithful instruction alone. They're learned by experience
that only God can give. Multitudes are very religious,
outwardly very moral and righteous, even orthodox somewhat in their
doctrine. But the Holy Spirit says they
do always err in their heart and they have not known my ways. Why? Because they're utterly
ignorant of the testimony of God in this book and of the power
of God in the experience of grace. They've never felt, they've never
experienced the power of God's grace. Oh, I know they sing,
there's power, power, wonder working power in the precious
blood of the lamb. They sing it, but they've never
experienced the power of that blood in putting away their sins. They may talk much about the
power of God's irresistible saving grace, but they've not experienced
that power for themselves. Therefore, they do always err
in their heart. What do you mean, Pastor? I'm
talking specifically about folks who talk about redemption, but
to them, redemption is just a doctrine. Regeneration is nothing but a
principle. Righteousness is nothing but
a legal standing. The new creation is just a confusing
puzzle. They have theories about these
things, theories that must be adjusted, altered, clarified,
and changed year after year because they know nothing by experience. They know nothing by the power
of God in the experience of grace. Now, I want you tonight to turn
back with me to Exodus 14. And I want to talk to you about
experiencing the power of God. So brother Don, we ought not
talk about experience. It's time. We did this time.
We did. We don't trust an experience.
We trust our savior. but we come to trust our Savior
through the experience of His grace. We come to trust Him by
experiencing the power of God in salvation. Now in this chapter
the Holy Spirit gives us the history of God bringing Israel
out of Egypt with a high hand and stretched out arm bringing
them across and through the Red Sea safely and drowning Pharaoh
and his armies in the Red Sea in his wrath. The very same outstretched
arm that delivered Israel destroyed the Egyptians and destroyed Pharaoh. But the history really is utterly
insignificant. It really doesn't matter, doesn't
matter at all. unless you're taught of God that
which this history of Israel typically is intended by God
to represent and teach us. He's talking to us about our
own experience of God's grace in salvation. Now, as we go through
these 31 verses of chapter 14, I'm going to just touch the highlights,
and I want to show you how God works his wonders of grace in
the lives of his people. For some of you, you will look
at these things, and I'm certain when I get done tonight, you'll
leave here saying to yourself, if not to one another, that's
what I've been trying to say. That's what God did for me. That's
exactly what I've experienced. I know that because this is exactly
what God's people all experience. Number one. Look at verses one
through nine. The first work of God, the Holy
Spirit upon the soul. The first work in the experience
of grace is a painful, withering work. He brings the sinner to
whom he is gracious into a state of utter helplessness, causing
him to be ensnared in hopelessness and in despair. Look at verses
1 and 2. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they may turn and encamp
before Pahaheroth, I may have got that close to
that. Between Migdal and the sea over against Baal-Ziphon,
before it shall ye encamp by the sea. Israel was brought out
of Egypt in a manner altogether contrary to what anyone calculating
deliverance would ever have come up with. When they were first
brought and commanded to go this way, they were very close to
Horeb. It was just a short way over
to Horeb. But the Lord God commanded them to go in this route that
took them down to the Red Sea, so that they would be easily
overtaken by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, surrounded behind
them and on both sides with mountains, with no way to escape. And the
psalmist tells us, he led them forth by the right way. God's way is never the way men
think it ought to be. God never, I meant to say never,
God never does things in a predictable manner by human wisdom. He never
does things in a way that men would look at it and say that's
the way it ought to be done. Never. The Lord God brought Israel
by the right way when he brought them through Pyhahirath. I'm not sure how you pronounce
that, but I know exactly what it means. The name means a hole. He brought them into a dark hole. And he did this, marching them
directly in front of Baal Ziphon. That is one of the gods the Egyptians
worshiped. It was the God they worshipped
as the God who protected and kept them from losing their captives. The Lord God brings Israel out
by Baal Zephan, this God the Egyptians thought would keep
their servants from fleeing from them. He brings them out in a
direct way and in the right way. What a delightful picture. God
causes his elect to pass through a dark hole of despair with Satan,
Pharaoh, seeking their destruction and brings them through that
dark hole in mockery of the God of this world who would hold
us captive still. Now notice it was by the hand
of Moses that Israel was brought into this dark hole. It was by
the hand of Moses that Israel was ensnared. The Lord said to
Moses, you take them down to the dark hole. You take them
down to this place where they shall be ensnared. There must
be a work of death wrought in us by the law before ever there
is a work of grace wrought in us, raising us from the dead.
So brother Don, but everybody's dead in trespasses and in sins.
I know it, but they don't. And if God's merciful to a man,
if God's merciful to a woman, God will convince you of your
death. Hold your hands here and turn
to Romans chapter seven, verse nine. The apostle Paul here tells us
exactly how it was that God brought him to life and faith in Christ
Jesus, how he experienced God's grace. Romans seven, verse nine. I was alive without the law once. Now this is what he's saying.
I was getting along just fine. I was getting along just fine.
Nothing was bothering me. I lived according to the Ten
Commandments. I lived by the law. I kept the sacrifices and
the ceremonies. But here he says I was alive
without the law. In Philippians chapter 1, he
talks about keeping the law from his youth up. He talks about
all those things that he did as a self-righteous Pharisee.
But now he says, I was without the law. He knew the letter of
the law outwardly, but understood nothing of the meaning of the
law, and the commandment had never come into his heart, showing
that God demands perfection and God demands satisfaction. But
then something happened. When the commandment came, sin
revived. Rebellion. When the commandment
came, when I saw what God required, the enmity of my heart was stirred
in me against God. The commandment came, sin revived,
and I died. The Lord God brought Israel in
the path he did. That he might make a display
of his sovereignty in the destruction of Pharaoh over and over again
We read in this chapter beginning with verse 3 down through verse
8 And then he picks it up again and again in the chapter that
he says i'm going to harden pharaoh's heart I'm going to harden pharaoh's
heart. This is what pharaoh is going
to do and when I get done Every egyptian will know that I am
god You see, the Lord God, in his great and glorious sovereignty,
has made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of judgment, and everything, everything, demons and devils,
Satan himself, reprobate men, the angels of God and God's elect,
every event of providence, everything shall honor him. He will see
to it. He said, I will get honor for
myself in Pharaoh. Now look at verse nine. But the
Egyptians pursued after them all the horses and chariots of
Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army and overtook them in
camping by this, by the sea beside Piraeus before Baal Zephyrin. Israel is now shut up. shut up
between the mountains behind them and the raging sea before
them with death pursuing them. That's exactly what God does
with the sinner he pursues with his grace. Goodness and mercy
pursue the chosen object of his grace right into this horrible
snare and pit and prison. He shuts up the guilty center
between the impassable mountains of offended justice and his broken
law, and the sinking swamps of their own inability. Satan roars,
and the guilty conscience screams in agreement, God hath forsaken
him. Persecute and take him, for there
is none to deliver him. What a tormentor the screaming
conscience is, declaring as Satan roars, God's forsaken you. Give
it up. And no mercy for you. And no
hope for you. Others maybe, but not you. God's forsaken you. See where
you are? All right. Now let's look at
verse 10. What's the purpose of this? Why
does God deal so with those whom he loves. Verse 10 tells us what God's
purpose is. It is to shut up the sinner he
loves to faith in his son. When Pharaoh drew nigh, the children
of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched
after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel
cried out unto the Lord. If you look at Hebrews 3, I believe
it's verse 16, while many murmured, not all of them did, some of
them prayed. But this doesn't look much like
a prayer to me. I'm just about convinced the
only time you or I know anything at all about prayer is when we're
in such desperate straits all we can do is cry out to God. They cried out to the Lord. They
cried out and expressed rebellion. Read it in the next few verses.
They cried out and expressed confusion. They cried out against
God's servant. They cried out against God's
word. But they were all the while crying out to the Lord. Their situation to all human
earthly appearance was utterly hopeless. Utterly hopeless. There's the raging Red Sea. I can picture that Red Sea in
my mind. I know the modern blasphemers,
they'll tell you it's just a little swampy marsh, wasn't very big
and all that stuff. I just read today it was at least nine miles
wide. Nine miles wide. And there it is raging before
them. Who's going to swim that sea nine miles wide? Just about
as soon as Pharaoh and his armies would get it over with in a hurry.
Pharaoh and his armies behind the mountains surrounding them.
All hope gone. They were shut up. Shut up to
one thing. To just one thing. there was
above them a pillar and that pillar is Christ Jesus the Lord
that pillar who walked before them who led them to this place
where they were and they cried out to the Lord God Almighty
shut them up to faith oh blessed is that sinner who
is shut up to faith in Christ. He shuts us up, sweetly forcing
the chosen redeemed sinner to call upon the Lord for mercy
and grace to help him in the time of need. This is what Paul
says concerning it. Before faith came, we were shut
up under the law, shut up under faith, which should afterward
be revealed. Shut up to faith that should
afterward be revealed. Shut up to him who is the object
to faith. Moses brought Israel out into
this place of utter despair, and God brought them out by his
law to shut them up to himself. And so he shuts them up. Like
the children of Judah before Ammon, sinners cry out for mercy
only when they're shut up to faith. Oh, our God, Judah cried. Wilt thou not judge them? For
we have no might against this great company that cometh against
us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. All earthly help was cut off.
Israel could not make a move. They were shut up in confusion
and dark despair. Salvation was near, but they
didn't have any idea. And salvation is near to that
center Shut up to Christ. I can't think of a better thing
for a preacher to do when God seems to be working in the hearts
of men or women and to just leave them alone. I can't tell you how many times
over the years I've had people write to me, call me, want me
to come visit this person or that's in hospital or in jail
or something's gone wrong and they're now going through a real
emotional crisis and they think that I will, like other preachers,
chase after folks like a lawyer chasing an ambulance trying to
get somebody to make a profession of faith. No, no, no, no. If God Almighty shuts somebody
up to Christ, Best thing you can do is wait for God Almighty
to bring them to Christ. Just wait. Leave them be. All right, here's the third thing. When the sinner is in such straits,
utterly helpless, suspended as it were over the mouth of hell,
he cries, what must I do? You know what the Philippian
jailer did? He was terrified. He was terrified. He came rushing
in, fell before Paul and Silas, said, Sirs, what must I do to
be saved? These Israelites, with all that
they said in verses 10, 11, and 12, murmuring and complaining,
they were expressing just confusion, utter confusion. What are we
to do? That's where these people were.
What shall we do now? Now listen to the good news Moses
gives. Wise and good counsel. It's gospel counsel. It's the
only counsel God's prophets can give to the sinner shut up in
prison. Look at verse 13. Moses said
unto the people, fear ye not. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. quite literally, stand still
and you shall see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show
to you today. For the Egyptians whom you have
seen today, you shall see them again no more forever." What
are we to do? Pharaoh and his armies representing
Satan and the flesh, representing the condemning sins of our nature. What are we to do? These things
that would destroy us, how shall we escape them? How shall we
deal with them? And God says, well, now stretch
out your arm and fight hard and resist and work and toil. Oh, no. That's what the Jews
did. Romans chapters 9 and 10, for
which they stumbled over the stumbling rock and went to hell
trying to work something for themselves. What does God say? Stand still and you shall see. God says their strength is to
sit still. He who is our mighty Jehovah
knows how to deliver his own. He who brought Lot out of Sodom
can bring his own out of prison. He who is our Savior would have
us stand still and see his salvation. Now understand this, salvation
is not something sinners obtain by effort. Verse 14, the Lord
shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace. Salvation comes by revelation. Paul said when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal
his son in me. I've been corresponding with
a lady who keeps raising questions and not unusual questions, same
questions I hear from folks a lot. They come to the preacher and
want him to somehow wave his magic wand and say a little hocus
pocus and tell him they're saved. And I just won't do that. I just
won't do that. I'm not about to try to convince
anybody they're saved. Not about to. Ralph Barnett used
to say, the only fellow who will try to convince a lost man he's
saved is another lost man. I'm not about to try to convince
somebody they're saved. I can't speak peace to you. If I could
and persuade you that you have peace, somebody else would come
and destroy your peace. What do you do? God will fight
for you, and God will reveal his salvation in you. Salvation
comes by revelation. Folks ask me, how can I know
if I believe? If you do, you'll know. How can
I know that God has spoken peace to my heart? If he does, you'll
hear his voice. How can I know that God has declared I am thy
salvation? If he does, you'll hear him speak. I'm not talking about an audible
voice and you know better than that. I'm talking about you will
have the firm persuasion in your heart that God Almighty has revealed
himself in you in the person of his son. Stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. The salvation which the Lord
will show you this day. And when you see God's salvation, you will see the Egyptians. No more, again, forever. You're condemning sins. You're accusing sins. your sins
that drive you into hopelessness. You will see the sin, but no
more condemnation. You'll see the sin, the guilt
he took away, but no more guilt. He takes your sin and cast it
away. All right, here's the fourth
thing. We see the way open for God's chosen by God himself. As we read these next verses,
understand, I remind you, Understand the meaning when the Lord God
our Savior saves sinners by the power of his grace When he sets
his captive prisoners free Giving them faith by his spirit to come
to him He opens the way before them But the way was open long
before it was open before us you remember in Zechariah the
Lord describes that day when Christ comes in a saving power
and he says I and a fountain shall be opened? Well, the fountain
was opened before the world began. And the fountain was certainly
opened at Calvary. But the fountain is opened to
you experimentally when God Almighty brings you to faith in Jesus
Christ the Lord. It must be opened to you. The way in the Red Sea, it was
opened by the blood of Christ that night that God passed through
Egypt. but now it must be open before the children of Israel
that they may cross over it and the way was open by which we
draw near to God when Jesus Christ died at Calvary our Passover
was sacrificed for us and the way was open but I'm telling
you from experience I know what it is to be shut out of the way
with no way to God with no way to God, despairing of life, hanging
by a thread over hell itself, utterly terrified of God's wrath. And then the Lord God comes in
mercy and opens the way. This is how he does it. First,
he commands faith. He said, Moses, quit talking
to me. Go tell my people I said, go forward. Go forward, he said
in verse 15. Go forward. First he says, stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. Now he says, go forward.
That is much what the apostles said to the Philippian jailer.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. In verse
22, the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea. And when they did, they went
in upon dry ground and the waters, the waters that they feared,
The waters that terrified them, the waters that must have appeared
to them utterly impassable, God Almighty calls to stand like
two erect concrete walls to protect them. The very thing
they feared, God calls to be their protector. Second, He opens
the way before us. in a very specific manner he
said to Moses in verses 16 and 21 he said to
Moses take your rod in your hand and stretch your rod over the
sea God opens the way before us by his own law by justice
satisfied he opens the way for us revealing to us what Christ
has done He opens the way for us, declaring to us that redemption
is done. He opens the way for us, declaring
to us that justice is satisfied. And then third, he makes the
way for us by performing a work of sovereign, distinguishing
grace by which he brings his elect through the sea to Jesus
Christ himself. Look at verse 19. This is astonishing. This is astonishing. People tell us all the time that
God doesn't make a difference. God doesn't distinguish between
one and the other. God makes a distinction between his elect
and the reprobate. It was made from eternity. It
is made in time. It is made continually, and it
is made specifically in the experience of grace. Look at verse 19. And
the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed and
went behind them and stood behind them. And it came between the
camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was a
cloud and darkness to them, to the Egyptians. But it gave light
by night to these. The very same work was darkness. and confusion engulfing the Egyptians
and was light to Israel showing them the way. The very same word. The very same word to the one
is a savor of death and to death and to the other a savor of life
unto life. Why is that? Look what it says.
So that the one came not near the other all the night. The two will not be mixed. God puts a difference between
them. And if God Almighty has given you life and faith in Christ,
if he's given me life and faith in Christ, let us ever remind
ourselves who makes us to differ from another. It is the differing
grace of God, the distinguishing grace of our God. And then the
children of Israel, were baptized into Moses. In verse 22, we read
that the wall of water was on both sides of them, and the pillar
of cloud was above them. And the Apostle Paul, writing
by inspiration, says this was baptism. They were baptized to
Moses. Now, I've known for years that's
what this speaks of, because God said that's what it speaks
of. But how? Well, you have wall around them
and over them, okay, but how does it speak of baptism? Baptism
is a deliberate, purposeful act of public identification with
Jesus Christ by which we publicly avow our consecration to him. That's what baptism is. It is
an act made deliberately by which we avow publicly our consecration
to Christ because of what he did for us at Calvary in his
death, burial, and resurrection. Now this is what the children
of Israel did. They followed Moses through the Red Sea with walls
of water around them. I'm going to tell you something.
That's called consecration. That's called devotion. That's
called trust. I'm going to be honest with you. I kind of doubt I would have.
I kind of doubt I would have unless God gave me what he gave
them, called faith. And that's what we confess in
our baptism. utter consecration to Christ. I said, all right, Moses. We're going to follow you. Through
this water. And if we die, we die. I can but perish if I go, I am
resolved to try, for if I stay away, I know I must forever die.
and they followed Him, consecrated to Him. But following Moses,
they were following Christ, the light that went before them.
Now, go back to our text again. Look at verses 23 through 30.
Remember, God said that they would see the Egyptians no more,
again, forever. And the next thing we see is
the destruction of Pharaoh and all the Egyptians in the sea.
Verse 24, we read that he troubled the Egyptians, caused them to
be concerned, caused them to be real concerned, because he
was fighting for Israel. And then he took off the wheels
of their chariots. That's trouble. Here they are
in the Red Sea, now that Asphalt that he made for Israel to walk
through all is turned again to mud because the waters are falling
upon them and they start to turn around and flee because God's
fighting for them and the Lord God took off the chariot wheels
Chariots are kindly useless in a mud hole with no wheels I don't
care who the horse is and that's what God did here and there remained
not so much as one of them. Verse 28, for God overthrew them
in the midst of the sea. Those Egyptians with Pharaoh,
all their chariots and horses and captains. The Lord God took them away forever
and got honor to himself in doing so. What a picture of what Christ
has done for us. He made an open show of Satan
and principalities and powers, made an open show of these things
as he rose from the dead and ascended on high, triumphing
over them. And he shows us that he has conquered
death, hell, and the grave. He has conquered and put away
our sins by the sacrifice of himself. And he forgives all
our iniquities. He has put them away. And as
they passed through the sea, they did so by the very same
rod that opened the way before them. Verse 26, Moses still got
a rod in his hand and he turns around and stretches it over
the sea again. And the waters fell on the Egyptians.
Justice satisfied by the blood of Jesus Christ is the whole
of our salvation. It was justice satisfied by the
blood of Christ that opened the way for us to draw near to God,
that new and living way. Justice satisfied opened that
way in our own hearts so that now we can look on Christ and
with full assurance boldly come to God on his throne. And that
very same justice satisfied is the assurance that God will not
charge us with sin. He can't. because sin has been
put away. Justice is satisfied. As they
passed through the sea in faith, the children of Israel saw God's
salvation. Look at verse 29. But the children
of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and
the waters were walled unto them on their right hand and on their
left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. Thus, God wrought salvation for
Israel. And thus, he still performed
salvation for sinners in the experience of his saving power. Look at verse 30. Thus, the Lord
saved Israel. Verse 31. And Israel saw the
great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people
feared the Lord. and believed the Lord. These
three things. This is how God, by blessedness,
if God's given you faith, this is how He gave it to you. First,
He caused you to see the great work He accomplished for you.
And causing you to see His salvation caused you to worship Him. They feared before the Lord,
called upon His name. and worshiping God, He calls
you to believe Him. Gave you faith in His Son. They
believed the Lord. They believed on the Lord, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who led them through the sea, and they believed
the Lord. They trusted Him. Now, look at
the first verse of chapter 15. Here's the result of all this.
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the
Lord. And they spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. Go home and read the rest of
the song. 24 times in this song, 24 times. God is spoken of. 24 times in
these few verses. Spoken of about what he did.
This is what God did. Thee, thou, thy. This is what
God did. There's not one word in the song
about what I did or we did or you did. How come? Because sinners saved by God's
grace recognize this is God's doing. And it's marvelous in
our eyes. And from our hearts, we cry,
not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Thanks be unto God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We sing
a triumphant song, not because we triumph, but because Christ,
the Lord our God, has triumphed gloriously for us. Turn over
to Revelation 19, and this is how things are going to end. After these things, I heard a
great voice of much people in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation
and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. Well,
what about Pharaoh and the Egyptians? What about all the enemies of
God and his people and his truth? who now cast into hell. True and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornications,
and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And
again, they said, Alleluia. Praise Jehovah. And her smoke
rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders
and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on
the throne saying, Amen, praise Jehovah. And a voice came out
of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants
and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it
were, the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters
and as the voice of mighty thundering saying, Alleluia. For the Lord
God omnipotent reigness. Amen. Let's have a hymn, Lindsay.